Chapter 139
A dull thud banged against the side of the transport, startling Tempest from her restless slumber.
She didn’t know how long they were traveling, but she was starting to feel like this journey would never end.
Tempest looked around and realized that everyone was sleep, even Rynax had his head leaned back against the wall of the transport. His eyes closed and his mouth open slighlty.
She wondered slightly how he could get comfortable like that with his horns in the way.
Tempest wanted to get up and walk around, but there really wasn’t anywhere for her to go. Instead, she just shifted in her seat. There was a dull ache in her stomach; it felt like motion sickness. She didn’t know why she would all of a sudden be feeling like that, she never really had issues with long car rides. Of course the transport wasn’t a car, and this wasn’t anything she’d been through before.
She blew a breath out of her nose, and her eyes locked on the communicator device on her wrist.
She could try one more time.
Just once more.
She pulled up the holographic screen and navigated to Dron’s contact. Her finger trembled slightly as she pressed on the indicator.
It buzzed a few times, but just like all the other times she had tried to call him, there was no answer.
A frog lodged in her throat, and she had to swallow the need to cry.
Tempest wasn’t a silly little high school girl; she knew Dron wasn’t just ignoring her to ignore her. He was deep in a battle, probably hiding out behind enemy lines or something, and that was the reason he wasn’t able to answer her.
Logically, she knew that, but it still hurt that she wasn’t able to speak with him.
"You won’t be able to reach him."
Tempest startled and looked up at Mexyn, who was no longer sleeping but instead was looking up at her.
"Yeah, I know. He’s busy."
Mexyn leaned forward, "Not just that, but it’s the topography. Skoq is very mountainous. The cliffs and rocks make it hard for the signal to get through. Even if he were someplace safe and wanted to call you there are only certain places on the island that will allow for a signal to go through."
Tempest didn’t know that. It made her feel better, though.
"So what else should I be prepared for? Besides the intense hiking that I’m sure we’re going to have to do." Tempest leaned forward, unbuckling her safety belt to get more comfortable.
It’s as if the powers that be chose that very moment to let her know that safety was paramount.
Suddenly, the transport jerked violently to the side, and there was a loud boom.
"What the fuck!" Rynax barked as he was. Slammed awake.
Tempest couldn’t help but chuckle at his use of the curse word. Her laughter died as the transport jerked violently again. Seconds later, it felt as if the vehicle was plummeting toward the ground before. It leveled out.
"What’s going on? Are we crashing?" Tempest shouted. She pulled herself back into her chair. She’d been tossed out of her seat by the second loud explosion.
"Gerax!" Mexyn screamed for the scientist, who somehow was still fast asleep.
When he didn’t wake up right away, Rynax pulled his flask out of his pocket and threw it at the man’s head.
"Hey!" Gerax complained as he shook his head and slowly woke up.
Another boom so loud it shook the transport and tilted it to the side.
Luckily, Tempest was able to get her seatbelt back on.
She gripped the side of the seat and looked around in a panic. How perfect would it be if they all managed to die in a fiery crash while they illegally tried to leave the area.
"What is happening?" Gerax asked when he finally woke up enough to realize the transport was on its side.
"Rynax!" Tempest called out to him. He was quiet. She turned to look at him and realized that he was doing something with the control system of the transport.
"We’re being attacked." Rynax finally spoke.
"Attacked?" Mexyn squeaked.
"We’ve just crossed into Skoq, there must have been some sort of patrol." Rynax continued as he furiously pressed buttons on the control panel.
"Why would they just attack us? We didn’t do anything." Tempest snapped.
"We didn’t do anything except sneak onto their land." Rynax replied.
The metal transport groaned and plummeted again before leveling out.
"We can’t get caught here. There’s no logical reason for us to be here." Gerax added in.
This was bad.
Tempest closed her eyes tightly, hoping for the best. They were prepared for a long, hard hike, maybe even to fight a few animals, but none of them were prepared to be taken prisoner.
"I just need to get us back up. Out of reach of whatever they are firing at us." Rynax spoke, and Tempest prayed that he would find a way.
Suddenly, the transport began zooming up. Tempest could feel the sensation in her stomach.
"Breathe, Tempest, just breathe. We’ll get through this." Gerax spoke from where he was sitting.
Tempest opened her eyes and glared at the man.
How the hell would they get through a crash like this? Maybe the three of them would be able to survive, but she didn’t think her body was built to fall from a flying object.
Still, it was good advice. Tempest took a few breaths in and out. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking, but at least the transport wasn’t falling to the ground anymore.
"Okay, I think they’ve gone." Rynax let out a shaky breath.
"So we’re okay? Everything is fine now?" Tempest asked.
"I wouldn’t say that."
Like a cruel joke, the inside of the transport began to flash a bright red. The universal color for danger.
"Great...just great. What’s that now?" Tempest asked, looking around, waiting for whatever was about to happen now.
"Well, whatever those natives hit us with has done damage to the hull. We’re going down." Rynax strapped himself back into his seat. As did Mexyn and Gerax.
"What!" Tempest yelled. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
"Don’t worry, I’ve made it so the transport will land in the nearest clearing. We’ll be fine, but this heap isn’t going to take us any further."
"What about the natives?" Gerax asked.
"We’re just going to have to deal with that when the time comes. Right now we have to worry about getting out of here."
Tempest closed her eyes again, her hand instinctually reached for the nearest thing. It was Rynax. She held on to him as the transport shakily dropped to the ground.
He held her tightly but didn’t say anything.
There was nothing that he could say. He was there to keep her safe, but what he was doing was much more than that. He was offering her comfort.
Tempest wished that it was Dron that she was holding onto. She wished that it was him who was offering up his silent comfort, but Rynax would have to do.
Seconds later, the transport landed with a soft thud, and just like that, it was all over.
They were safe on the ground. At least for the moment.
"Hurry. We need to get out of here before the natives figure out where we’ve landed." Mexyn was already snatching off her seatbelt.
"You think they’ll come after us?" Tempest questioned as she stood up on shaky legs.
Rynax put a hand on her elbow and steadied her. "Without a doubt." He affirmed.
Tempest didn’t want to think about what would happen if they got caught. From everything she’d been told about the forbidden lands, her imagination was already running wild with everything these so called savages would do to them if they caught them.
Tempest and the rest of them rushed to get out of the transport.
The second she stepped out of the metal encasement, she regretted her decision to come here.
The heat was suffocating. Worse than anything she’d felt on Thraqe.
They’d crash-landed in the middle of what looked like a dry basin. There were cliffs all around. If they were going to get out of there, they were going to have to climb out.
"Gather all you need out of the transport. I doubt we’re going to be able to come back for anything." Gerax sighed as he pulled himself back up into the transport to do just that.
Tempest turned to look at the transport. It was dented and scarred in areas. There was smoke coming from various areas. It was clear that the vessel wouldn’t be moving any time soon.
That was going to be another problem.
They were here to find Dron but once they did, how would they get home?
Tempest pulled herself back into the transport to get the simple pack that she’d stuffed all her belongings into.
Rynax waited for her to come back out, and then he gestured for her to walk ahead.
Tempest knew it was all worth it. Whatever they were about to face in these lands would be worth it the second she was back in Dron’s arms.